Call of Duty: Black Ops II confirmed

Mike Luttrell, 1st May 2012

The annual entry to Activision's Call of Duty franchise this year will be a Black Ops II.

Perhaps a bit prematurely, the UK version of Activision's website has posted details of the game. It lists November 13, 2012 as the release date along with a terse, teasing description:

"Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 propels players into a near future, 21st Century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare."

Fans should be able to get a better taste of the game tonight when a world premiere trailer for the game airs on the cable channel TNT, during its coverage of the NBA playoffs.

When it launched, Blacks Ops quickly added a bunch of sales records to its resume, including the biggest launch in the history of video games and various marks (e.g., first-week sales) that placed it as the fastest-selling game as well.

Interestingly enough, the previous record holders in these instances were earlier installments in the Call of Duty franchise. Activision continues to set new records.

One thing people forget, though, is that it was also faced with bugs and glitches that called into question the current state of the industry and whether or not more games are heading to store shelves with bugs.

Thanks to Internet connectivity, console games can now be patched after the fact. In a previous life, a game with as many glitches as Black Ops would have been labeled a lemon and face veritable death in the retail world.

But that's the way the industry advances. Black Ops became the first title to reach $1 billion in sales in less than six weeks. We'll see if Black Ops II can beat that.